Steiner understands consequences: 'We must allow them to make mistakes'

With Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, Haas is at the start of the season in 2021 with two rookies. It is a risk of which Günther Steiner admits he accepts the consequences, but he also sees advantages.

The fact that Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen had to leave Haas was not really a huge surprise. The two of them had been in the race stable for a long time and although continuity is good, it didn't really hurt for Haas to change the line-up completely. That Steiner, however, would opt for a lineup with two inexperienced drivers, was something few people had thought of.

''Yes, there is a risk that the new drivers won't be able to make the most of the available data, but we are here to help and the advantage is that we can now steer them in a certain direction in terms of development in order to grow the team. There is also a financial advantage, because young drivers cost less and we can put that into development,'' said Steiner to Speedweek.com.

With this move Haas shows again that it is a unique team. ''It's almost because it's never been done before that it can't go well. I don't want to downplay the risks, but we think differently from other teams. For years people asked why I kept Grosjean. We're not here to do what others do, but to do what we think is right."

Haas' team boss saw 2021 as the ideal time to bring in two inexperienced drivers. ''The time for change was simply right. We see 2021 as an intermediate year, before we go into 2022 with new cars. We have no illusions: In order to learn, our drivers must also be allowed to make mistakes," concluded Steiner.